Erika Bagley | Muhlenberg College (original) (raw)
Papers by Erika Bagley
Emerging adulthood, Oct 3, 2017
We examined relations between objectively and subjectively assessed sleep and self-reported psych... more We examined relations between objectively and subjectively assessed sleep and self-reported psychological distress from internalizing symptoms. Consistent with a health disparities perspective, ethnicity and subjective social status (SSS) were examined as moderators of these associations. Participants were 219 individuals (18-29 years old; 51% female) from diverse ethnic (55% non-Latino White, 27% Latino, and 18% other) and socioeconomic backgrounds. Individuals self-reported on their daytime sleepiness and actigraphs measured sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and variability in sleep onset time. Path models revealed that greater daytime sleepiness and variability in sleep onset time were more robustly related to distress from internalizing symptoms for Latinos and those with lower SSS. Other interactions emerged; longer sleep duration in conjunction with higher SSS related to less distress from internalizing symptoms. The results are novel and indicate that the consideration of ethnicity and socioeconomic position holds promise for better understanding sleep during emerging adulthood.
Sleep Health, Mar 1, 2015
Two separate meta-analyses 1,2 concluded that across nonexperi-mental studies of children and ado... more Two separate meta-analyses 1,2 concluded that across nonexperi-mental studies of children and adolescents, there was consistent evidence of a negative association between short sleep duration and body mass index (BMI). Since 2008, a number of studies have not only provided additional evidence on relations between sleep and BMI but have also pushed the field forward by documenting longitudinal relations and, therefore, direction of effects, between multiple sleep parameters and BMI. Findings from longitudinal work suggest that insufficient and poor-quality sleep may be a contributing factor to the epidemic of youth who are overweight and obese.
Behavioral Sleep Medicine, Dec 9, 2016
Background & Objective: A growing body of work indicates that experiences of neighborhood disadva... more Background & Objective: A growing body of work indicates that experiences of neighborhood disadvantage place children at risk for poor sleep. This study aimed to examine how both neighborhood economic deprivation, a measure of poverty, and social fragmentation, an index of instability, are associated with objective measures of the length and quality of children's sleep. Participants: Participants were 210 children (54.3% boys) living predominantly in small towns and semirural communities in Alabama. On average children were 11.3 years old (SD = .63); 66.7% of the children were European American and 33.3% were African American. The sample was socioeconomically diverse with 67.9% of the participants living at or below the poverty line and 32.1% from lower middle class or middle class families. Methods: Indicators of neighborhood characteristics were derived from the 2012 American Community Survey and composited to create two variables representing neighborhood economic deprivation and social fragmentation. Child sleep period, actual sleep minutes, and efficiency were examined using actigraphy. Results: Higher levels of neighborhood economic deprivation were associated with fewer sleep minutes and poorer sleep efficiency. More neighborhood social fragmentation was also linked with poorer sleep efficiency. Analyses controlled for demographic characteristics, child health, and family socioeconomic status. Conclusions: Findings indicate that living in economically and socially disadvantaged neighborhoods predicts risk for shorter and lower quality sleep in children. Examination of community context in addition to family and individual characteristics may provide a more comprehensive understanding of the factors shaping child sleep.
Emerging adulthood, Jun 21, 2016
Using a multimethod approach, we examined relations between dating aggression and sleep in emergi... more Using a multimethod approach, we examined relations between dating aggression and sleep in emerging adulthood. Participants were 108 dating couples from diverse ethnic and educational backgrounds (49% were cohabiting). Women and men self-reported on the frequency to which they perpetrated psychological and physical aggression toward their partners. Actigraphs were worn for seven consecutive nights and measured sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and long wake episodes. Participants also self-reported on their cognitive and somatic presleep arousal. After controlling for many covariates, actor–partner interdependence models revealed that women and men who perpetrated higher levels of aggression were at greater risk for disruption in many actigraphy and self-reported sleep domains. Partner effects also emerged and indicated that an individual’s perpetration of aggression related to greater disruption in their partner’s sleep. Findings build on this scant literature and demonstrate relations between a prevalent social stressor and a fundamental facet of emerging adults’ health.
Behavioral Sleep Medicine, Aug 12, 2014
We examined income-to-needs ratio, perceived economic well-being, and education and their relatio... more We examined income-to-needs ratio, perceived economic well-being, and education and their relations with European and African American women's sleep (n = 219). Sleep was examined through actigraphy and self-reports. Income-to-needs ratio was related to sleep minutes. Perceived economic well-being and education were associated with subjective sleep problems. Perceived stress mediated relations between both income-to-needs ratio and economic well-being and subjective sleep problems. Chaos emerged as a mediator linking income-to-needs ratio and subjective sleep problems. African American women had fewer sleep minutes and lower sleep efficiency than European Americans, and more robust relations between economic well-being and stress was observed for European Americans. Findings highlight the importance of economic adversity for women's sleep and explicate some pathways of risk. In addition to a good diet and exercise, getting adequate, high-quality sleep is an essential health-promoting behavior. Sleep plays critical roles in emotion processing and regulation
Journal of Sleep Research, Dec 24, 2013
The sympathetic nervous system and children's sleep serve critical arousal regulation functions. ... more The sympathetic nervous system and children's sleep serve critical arousal regulation functions. Shortened pre-ejection period, a reliable indirect index of greater sympathetic nervous system activity, has been associated with reduced sleep duration and quality in adults, but limited evidence exists in children regarding associations between pre-ejection period and sleep. We examined relations between pre-ejection period reactivity in response to a lab-based stressor and multiple parameters of actigraphy-based sleep duration and quality in children. The sample included 123 boys and 112 girls (M age = 11.31 years, SD = .63 years). Controlling for body mass index, sex, and pre-ejection period baseline, increased sympathetic nervous system reactivity, indexed by a lower level of pre-ejection period during the challenge than the baseline, was associated with worse sleep quality indicated by lower sleep efficiency, greater sleep activity, and greater long wake episodes. Findings add to a small literature on relations between sympathetic nervous system functioning and children's sleep, suggesting that poor sleep quality is related to dysregulation of the stress response system.
Journal of Sleep Research, Dec 6, 2012
We examined indices of children's parasympathetic nervous system activity (PNS), including respir... more We examined indices of children's parasympathetic nervous system activity (PNS), including respiratory sinus arrhythmia during baseline (RSAB) and RSA reactivity (RSAR), to a laboratory challenge, and importantly the interaction between RSAB and RSAR as predictors of multiple parameters of children's sleep. Lower RSAR denotes increased vagal withdrawal (reductions in RSA between baseline and task) and higher RSAR represents decreased vagal withdrawal or augmentation (increases in RSA between baseline and task). A community sample of schoolattending children (121 boys and 103 girls) participated [mean age = 10.41 years; standard deviation (SD) = 0.67]. Children's sleep parameters were examined through actigraphy for 7 consecutive nights. Findings demonstrate that RSAB and RSAR interact to predict multiple sleep quality parameters (activity, minutes awake after sleep onset and long wake episodes). The overall pattern of effects illustrates that children who exhibit more disrupted sleep (increased activity, more minutes awake after sleep onset and more frequent long wake episodes) are those with lower RSAB in conjunction with lower RSAR. This combination of low RSAB and low RSAR probably reflects increased autonomic nervous system arousal, which interferes with sleep. Results illustrate the importance of individual differences in physiological regulation indexed by interactions between PNS baseline activity and PNS reactivity for a better understanding of children's sleep quality.
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Feb 6, 2012
Background-We used a multi-method and multi-informant design to identify developmental pathways t... more Background-We used a multi-method and multi-informant design to identify developmental pathways through which parental depressive symptoms contribute to children's sleep problems. Environmental factors including adult inter-partner conflict and parent-child conflict were considered as process variables of this relation. Methods-An ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of children (n = 268) participated (M age = 9.44 years, SD = 8.61 months). Children wore actigraphs for 7 consecutive nights and also reported on their sleep problems. Results-Higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms were associated with children's sleep/ wake problems. Higher levels of paternal depressive symptoms were associated with shorter time in bed and fewer sleep minutes. Inter-partner conflict and parent-child conflict were mechanisms of effects in the associations between maternal depressive symptoms and children's actigraphybased and self-reported sleep problems. Conclusions-Findings build on this scant literature and highlight the importance of identifying pathways of risk and familial and environmental influences on children's sleep problems.
Early Child Development and Care, Jan 6, 2022
American Journal of Infection Control
Early Child Development and Care, 2022
This doctoral dissertation seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the association between sle... more This doctoral dissertation seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the association between sleep variables (sleep duration, variability and problems) and risk-taking behaviors (general delinquency, substance use and sexual risk-taking) from late childhood into adolescence. The study examines the change over time in sleep and risk-taking separately and the association between these variables over time. The influences of pubertal development and parental monitoring on the association between sleep and risk-taking are considered. Finally, executive functioning and impulse control are explored as possible mediators that may explain the association. Data for the study are drawn from the National Institutes of Child Health and Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD) sixth grade and 15 year data collections. As predicted, sleep variables demonstrated changes from sixth grade to 15 years that reflected worsening sleep with decreased sleep durations, inc...
Journal of Child and Family Studies
Emerging Adulthood
We examined relations between objectively and subjectively assessed sleep and self-reported psych... more We examined relations between objectively and subjectively assessed sleep and self-reported psychological distress from internalizing symptoms. Consistent with a health disparities perspective, ethnicity and subjective social status (SSS) were examined as moderators of these associations. Participants were 219 individuals (18–29 years old; 51% female) from diverse ethnic (55% non-Latino White, 27% Latino, and 18% other) and socioeconomic backgrounds. Individuals self-reported on their daytime sleepiness and actigraphs measured sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and variability in sleep onset time. Path models revealed that greater daytime sleepiness and variability in sleep onset time were more robustly related to distress from internalizing symptoms for Latinos and those with lower SSS. Other interactions emerged; longer sleep duration in conjunction with higher SSS related to less distress from internalizing symptoms. The results are novel and indicate that the consideration of eth...
Behavioral sleep medicine, Jan 9, 2016
A growing body of work indicates that experiences of neighborhood disadvantage place children at ... more A growing body of work indicates that experiences of neighborhood disadvantage place children at risk for poor sleep. This study aimed to examine how both neighborhood economic deprivation (a measure of poverty) and social fragmentation (an index of instability) are associated with objective measures of the length and quality of children's sleep. Participants were 210 children (54.3% boys) living predominantly in small towns and semirural communities in Alabama. On average children were 11.3 years old (SD = .63); 66.7% of the children were European American and 33.3% were African American. The sample was socioeconomically diverse with 67.9% of the participants living at or below the poverty line and 32.1% from lower-middle-class or middle-class families. Indicators of neighborhood characteristics were derived from the 2012 American Community Survey and composited to create two variables representing neighborhood economic deprivation and social fragmentation. Child sleep period, ...
Emerging Adulthood, 2017
Using a multimethod approach, we examined relations between dating aggression and sleep in emergi... more Using a multimethod approach, we examined relations between dating aggression and sleep in emerging adulthood. Participants were 108 dating couples from diverse ethnic and educational backgrounds (49% were cohabiting). Women and men self-reported on the frequency to which they perpetrated psychological and physical aggression toward their partners. Actigraphs were worn for seven consecutive nights and measured sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and long wake episodes. Participants also self-reported on their cognitive and somatic presleep arousal. After controlling for many covariates, actor–partner interdependence models revealed that women and men who perpetrated higher levels of aggression were at greater risk for disruption in many actigraphy and self-reported sleep domains. Partner effects also emerged and indicated that an individual’s perpetration of aggression related to greater disruption in their partner’s sleep. Findings build on this scant literature and demonstrate relat...
Sleep Health, 2016
The goal of this study was to examine links between concerns about community violence and objecti... more The goal of this study was to examine links between concerns about community violence and objective and subjective sleep parameters in an adolescent sample. Sex was considered as a moderator of effects. The study used a cross-sectional design. The community-based sample included 252 adolescents (53% girls) with an average age of 15.79 years (SD = 0.81) from the Southeastern United States. The sample included 34% African American and 66% European American adolescents from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Adolescent-reported community violence concerns were assessed using a composite of 3 separate subscales that measured perceived community safety and threats of community and school violence. Sleep duration and quality were assessed using actigraphy, and subjective sleep problems and daytime sleepiness were measured with subscales of the School Sleep Habits Survey. Community violence predicted lower sleep efficiency, more long-wake episodes, and more sleep/wake problems and sleepiness. Sex-related moderation effects revealed that girls in the sample were more vulnerable to the effects of violence concerns on their objective sleep quality. Findings highlight the role of community violence concerns on adolescents' sleep, revealing that greater community violence concerns are linked with lower levels of actigraphy-based and subjective reports of sleep quality, particularly for adolescent girls. Consideration of the mechanisms by which violence concerns may affect sleep is discussed.
Emerging adulthood, Oct 3, 2017
We examined relations between objectively and subjectively assessed sleep and self-reported psych... more We examined relations between objectively and subjectively assessed sleep and self-reported psychological distress from internalizing symptoms. Consistent with a health disparities perspective, ethnicity and subjective social status (SSS) were examined as moderators of these associations. Participants were 219 individuals (18-29 years old; 51% female) from diverse ethnic (55% non-Latino White, 27% Latino, and 18% other) and socioeconomic backgrounds. Individuals self-reported on their daytime sleepiness and actigraphs measured sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and variability in sleep onset time. Path models revealed that greater daytime sleepiness and variability in sleep onset time were more robustly related to distress from internalizing symptoms for Latinos and those with lower SSS. Other interactions emerged; longer sleep duration in conjunction with higher SSS related to less distress from internalizing symptoms. The results are novel and indicate that the consideration of ethnicity and socioeconomic position holds promise for better understanding sleep during emerging adulthood.
Sleep Health, Mar 1, 2015
Two separate meta-analyses 1,2 concluded that across nonexperi-mental studies of children and ado... more Two separate meta-analyses 1,2 concluded that across nonexperi-mental studies of children and adolescents, there was consistent evidence of a negative association between short sleep duration and body mass index (BMI). Since 2008, a number of studies have not only provided additional evidence on relations between sleep and BMI but have also pushed the field forward by documenting longitudinal relations and, therefore, direction of effects, between multiple sleep parameters and BMI. Findings from longitudinal work suggest that insufficient and poor-quality sleep may be a contributing factor to the epidemic of youth who are overweight and obese.
Behavioral Sleep Medicine, Dec 9, 2016
Background & Objective: A growing body of work indicates that experiences of neighborhood disadva... more Background & Objective: A growing body of work indicates that experiences of neighborhood disadvantage place children at risk for poor sleep. This study aimed to examine how both neighborhood economic deprivation, a measure of poverty, and social fragmentation, an index of instability, are associated with objective measures of the length and quality of children's sleep. Participants: Participants were 210 children (54.3% boys) living predominantly in small towns and semirural communities in Alabama. On average children were 11.3 years old (SD = .63); 66.7% of the children were European American and 33.3% were African American. The sample was socioeconomically diverse with 67.9% of the participants living at or below the poverty line and 32.1% from lower middle class or middle class families. Methods: Indicators of neighborhood characteristics were derived from the 2012 American Community Survey and composited to create two variables representing neighborhood economic deprivation and social fragmentation. Child sleep period, actual sleep minutes, and efficiency were examined using actigraphy. Results: Higher levels of neighborhood economic deprivation were associated with fewer sleep minutes and poorer sleep efficiency. More neighborhood social fragmentation was also linked with poorer sleep efficiency. Analyses controlled for demographic characteristics, child health, and family socioeconomic status. Conclusions: Findings indicate that living in economically and socially disadvantaged neighborhoods predicts risk for shorter and lower quality sleep in children. Examination of community context in addition to family and individual characteristics may provide a more comprehensive understanding of the factors shaping child sleep.
Emerging adulthood, Jun 21, 2016
Using a multimethod approach, we examined relations between dating aggression and sleep in emergi... more Using a multimethod approach, we examined relations between dating aggression and sleep in emerging adulthood. Participants were 108 dating couples from diverse ethnic and educational backgrounds (49% were cohabiting). Women and men self-reported on the frequency to which they perpetrated psychological and physical aggression toward their partners. Actigraphs were worn for seven consecutive nights and measured sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and long wake episodes. Participants also self-reported on their cognitive and somatic presleep arousal. After controlling for many covariates, actor–partner interdependence models revealed that women and men who perpetrated higher levels of aggression were at greater risk for disruption in many actigraphy and self-reported sleep domains. Partner effects also emerged and indicated that an individual’s perpetration of aggression related to greater disruption in their partner’s sleep. Findings build on this scant literature and demonstrate relations between a prevalent social stressor and a fundamental facet of emerging adults’ health.
Behavioral Sleep Medicine, Aug 12, 2014
We examined income-to-needs ratio, perceived economic well-being, and education and their relatio... more We examined income-to-needs ratio, perceived economic well-being, and education and their relations with European and African American women's sleep (n = 219). Sleep was examined through actigraphy and self-reports. Income-to-needs ratio was related to sleep minutes. Perceived economic well-being and education were associated with subjective sleep problems. Perceived stress mediated relations between both income-to-needs ratio and economic well-being and subjective sleep problems. Chaos emerged as a mediator linking income-to-needs ratio and subjective sleep problems. African American women had fewer sleep minutes and lower sleep efficiency than European Americans, and more robust relations between economic well-being and stress was observed for European Americans. Findings highlight the importance of economic adversity for women's sleep and explicate some pathways of risk. In addition to a good diet and exercise, getting adequate, high-quality sleep is an essential health-promoting behavior. Sleep plays critical roles in emotion processing and regulation
Journal of Sleep Research, Dec 24, 2013
The sympathetic nervous system and children's sleep serve critical arousal regulation functions. ... more The sympathetic nervous system and children's sleep serve critical arousal regulation functions. Shortened pre-ejection period, a reliable indirect index of greater sympathetic nervous system activity, has been associated with reduced sleep duration and quality in adults, but limited evidence exists in children regarding associations between pre-ejection period and sleep. We examined relations between pre-ejection period reactivity in response to a lab-based stressor and multiple parameters of actigraphy-based sleep duration and quality in children. The sample included 123 boys and 112 girls (M age = 11.31 years, SD = .63 years). Controlling for body mass index, sex, and pre-ejection period baseline, increased sympathetic nervous system reactivity, indexed by a lower level of pre-ejection period during the challenge than the baseline, was associated with worse sleep quality indicated by lower sleep efficiency, greater sleep activity, and greater long wake episodes. Findings add to a small literature on relations between sympathetic nervous system functioning and children's sleep, suggesting that poor sleep quality is related to dysregulation of the stress response system.
Journal of Sleep Research, Dec 6, 2012
We examined indices of children's parasympathetic nervous system activity (PNS), including respir... more We examined indices of children's parasympathetic nervous system activity (PNS), including respiratory sinus arrhythmia during baseline (RSAB) and RSA reactivity (RSAR), to a laboratory challenge, and importantly the interaction between RSAB and RSAR as predictors of multiple parameters of children's sleep. Lower RSAR denotes increased vagal withdrawal (reductions in RSA between baseline and task) and higher RSAR represents decreased vagal withdrawal or augmentation (increases in RSA between baseline and task). A community sample of schoolattending children (121 boys and 103 girls) participated [mean age = 10.41 years; standard deviation (SD) = 0.67]. Children's sleep parameters were examined through actigraphy for 7 consecutive nights. Findings demonstrate that RSAB and RSAR interact to predict multiple sleep quality parameters (activity, minutes awake after sleep onset and long wake episodes). The overall pattern of effects illustrates that children who exhibit more disrupted sleep (increased activity, more minutes awake after sleep onset and more frequent long wake episodes) are those with lower RSAB in conjunction with lower RSAR. This combination of low RSAB and low RSAR probably reflects increased autonomic nervous system arousal, which interferes with sleep. Results illustrate the importance of individual differences in physiological regulation indexed by interactions between PNS baseline activity and PNS reactivity for a better understanding of children's sleep quality.
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Feb 6, 2012
Background-We used a multi-method and multi-informant design to identify developmental pathways t... more Background-We used a multi-method and multi-informant design to identify developmental pathways through which parental depressive symptoms contribute to children's sleep problems. Environmental factors including adult inter-partner conflict and parent-child conflict were considered as process variables of this relation. Methods-An ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of children (n = 268) participated (M age = 9.44 years, SD = 8.61 months). Children wore actigraphs for 7 consecutive nights and also reported on their sleep problems. Results-Higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms were associated with children's sleep/ wake problems. Higher levels of paternal depressive symptoms were associated with shorter time in bed and fewer sleep minutes. Inter-partner conflict and parent-child conflict were mechanisms of effects in the associations between maternal depressive symptoms and children's actigraphybased and self-reported sleep problems. Conclusions-Findings build on this scant literature and highlight the importance of identifying pathways of risk and familial and environmental influences on children's sleep problems.
Early Child Development and Care, Jan 6, 2022
American Journal of Infection Control
Early Child Development and Care, 2022
This doctoral dissertation seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the association between sle... more This doctoral dissertation seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the association between sleep variables (sleep duration, variability and problems) and risk-taking behaviors (general delinquency, substance use and sexual risk-taking) from late childhood into adolescence. The study examines the change over time in sleep and risk-taking separately and the association between these variables over time. The influences of pubertal development and parental monitoring on the association between sleep and risk-taking are considered. Finally, executive functioning and impulse control are explored as possible mediators that may explain the association. Data for the study are drawn from the National Institutes of Child Health and Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD) sixth grade and 15 year data collections. As predicted, sleep variables demonstrated changes from sixth grade to 15 years that reflected worsening sleep with decreased sleep durations, inc...
Journal of Child and Family Studies
Emerging Adulthood
We examined relations between objectively and subjectively assessed sleep and self-reported psych... more We examined relations between objectively and subjectively assessed sleep and self-reported psychological distress from internalizing symptoms. Consistent with a health disparities perspective, ethnicity and subjective social status (SSS) were examined as moderators of these associations. Participants were 219 individuals (18–29 years old; 51% female) from diverse ethnic (55% non-Latino White, 27% Latino, and 18% other) and socioeconomic backgrounds. Individuals self-reported on their daytime sleepiness and actigraphs measured sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and variability in sleep onset time. Path models revealed that greater daytime sleepiness and variability in sleep onset time were more robustly related to distress from internalizing symptoms for Latinos and those with lower SSS. Other interactions emerged; longer sleep duration in conjunction with higher SSS related to less distress from internalizing symptoms. The results are novel and indicate that the consideration of eth...
Behavioral sleep medicine, Jan 9, 2016
A growing body of work indicates that experiences of neighborhood disadvantage place children at ... more A growing body of work indicates that experiences of neighborhood disadvantage place children at risk for poor sleep. This study aimed to examine how both neighborhood economic deprivation (a measure of poverty) and social fragmentation (an index of instability) are associated with objective measures of the length and quality of children's sleep. Participants were 210 children (54.3% boys) living predominantly in small towns and semirural communities in Alabama. On average children were 11.3 years old (SD = .63); 66.7% of the children were European American and 33.3% were African American. The sample was socioeconomically diverse with 67.9% of the participants living at or below the poverty line and 32.1% from lower-middle-class or middle-class families. Indicators of neighborhood characteristics were derived from the 2012 American Community Survey and composited to create two variables representing neighborhood economic deprivation and social fragmentation. Child sleep period, ...
Emerging Adulthood, 2017
Using a multimethod approach, we examined relations between dating aggression and sleep in emergi... more Using a multimethod approach, we examined relations between dating aggression and sleep in emerging adulthood. Participants were 108 dating couples from diverse ethnic and educational backgrounds (49% were cohabiting). Women and men self-reported on the frequency to which they perpetrated psychological and physical aggression toward their partners. Actigraphs were worn for seven consecutive nights and measured sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and long wake episodes. Participants also self-reported on their cognitive and somatic presleep arousal. After controlling for many covariates, actor–partner interdependence models revealed that women and men who perpetrated higher levels of aggression were at greater risk for disruption in many actigraphy and self-reported sleep domains. Partner effects also emerged and indicated that an individual’s perpetration of aggression related to greater disruption in their partner’s sleep. Findings build on this scant literature and demonstrate relat...
Sleep Health, 2016
The goal of this study was to examine links between concerns about community violence and objecti... more The goal of this study was to examine links between concerns about community violence and objective and subjective sleep parameters in an adolescent sample. Sex was considered as a moderator of effects. The study used a cross-sectional design. The community-based sample included 252 adolescents (53% girls) with an average age of 15.79 years (SD = 0.81) from the Southeastern United States. The sample included 34% African American and 66% European American adolescents from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Adolescent-reported community violence concerns were assessed using a composite of 3 separate subscales that measured perceived community safety and threats of community and school violence. Sleep duration and quality were assessed using actigraphy, and subjective sleep problems and daytime sleepiness were measured with subscales of the School Sleep Habits Survey. Community violence predicted lower sleep efficiency, more long-wake episodes, and more sleep/wake problems and sleepiness. Sex-related moderation effects revealed that girls in the sample were more vulnerable to the effects of violence concerns on their objective sleep quality. Findings highlight the role of community violence concerns on adolescents' sleep, revealing that greater community violence concerns are linked with lower levels of actigraphy-based and subjective reports of sleep quality, particularly for adolescent girls. Consideration of the mechanisms by which violence concerns may affect sleep is discussed.